EMORY, Texas — Considering the size of Lake Fork it boggles the mind to think how a 27,000-acre lake can produce so many big bass, when compared to bigger Texas impoundments like Toledo Bend and Sam Rayburn. Both are highly regarded for their trophy bass reputations, but neither can claim the top spot. That goes to Lake Fork.
Here are the facts. Thirty of the Top 50 biggest largemouth caught in the state of Texas came from Lake Fork. At the bottom of the list in 49th place is a 15.46-pound largemouth caught from Lake Fork. The first six entries, including the current state record weighing 18.18 pounds, and the next previous record weighing 17.67 pounds came from Lake Fork.
How long can this continue? There seems to be no end in sight. The reason why goes all the way back to 1980, when the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) and Sabine River Authority (SRA) set out to build, from the ground up, a trophy bass lake open to the public that has exceeded everyone’s expectations.
Here is how it began, where it is now, and where those visionaries see it going in the future.
In the beginning
In the early 1970s, the slow flowing Sabine River wound its way through the flat countryside of Hopkins, Rains and Wood counties in east Texas. Located east of Dallas, the area was rich in agriculture and specifically dairy farming. At first a municipal water supply funded project, SRA and TPWD also envisioned creating a recreational fishery driving a tourism economy.
The construction blueprint had two very impactful ideas. First, vast areas of hardwood and pine forests would not be cleared to create an open-water impoundment. Instead selective cutting would be done for navigation, while leaving most of the timber for fish habitat. Next, the large number of farm ponds created by ranchers to water livestock would be used as a nursery for growing the first generation of trophy bass.
Jumpstarting a trophy lake
What happened next was magical. TPWD stocked the farm ponds with Florida-strain largemouth just before the dam was closed in 1980.
“What helped the lake the most was using those stock tanks as brooder ponds,” said Jake Norman, district management supervisor overseeing fisheries management of the lake. “As the lake filled it was a very quick way to jumpstart the bass population because the habitat was already there.”
And that began the genesis of a genetically superior trophy bass population soon to come.
Bass fishermen often judge a fishery by its forage base. More baitfish mean better fishing. What happens at Lake Fork extends beyond the shoreline.
A lake cannot support a healthy forage base without the food to feed it. At Lake Fork that is the watershed, which builds the forage base from the ground up, beginning with plankton blooms for the smallest fish. Those feed larger fish and on up to the top of the food chain with the largemouth.
“The Lake Fork watershed is unlike any other,” explained Norman. “The nutrient level here stays incredibly high due to all of the feeder creeks.”
Feeder creeks are where nutrients enter the lake. Feeder creeks are abundant in Lake Fork and spread those nutrients throughout the lake.
“The watershed really drives it all by enabling the lake to feed itself from the bottom of the food chain on up,” added Norman. “What is happening here with the watershed is the perfect case scenario for growing big bass.”
Teamwork makes the dream work
Lake Fork reached conservation pool in 1985. The next year the lake record was established by guide Mark Stevenson, whose trophy weighed 17.67 pounds, which was unheard back then for Texas. Stevenson’s fish became the first ShareLunker entry.
That fish awakened the TPWD and SRA as to the true potential for what could evolved at Lake Fork, which it did. Norman said getting there was made possible by the SRA, among other partners.
“There are many reasons why Lake Fork still is what it is now and part of that is due to our partnership with SRA,” said Norman. “Lake Fork is their property and they are constantly in support of us with any projects we want to consider to maintain the trophy potential of the lake.”
Another realization that came true and soon was the economic impacts. Fish camps and guide services prospered early on. Today those guides are a meaningful part of the fisheries management program.
“They give us a perspective of the fishery that we don’t necessarily always see in our sampling efforts,” said Norman. “Collaborating with them through regular meetings assures that we are all on the same page with the recreational anglers.”
He continued, “what they see supports what our data shows and gives a better perspective of the lake, because they are on the water much more than us.”
The Lake Fork Sportsman’s Association (LFSA) is another key partner. The group was formed to provide an organized front to counter the call for removal of the slot limit that protects the lake’s brood stock. The LSFA’s most visible presence on the lake is a 24-foot live release boat that is used for tournaments and habitat improvement, including a project that planted 1,000 native button bush seedlings in various underdeveloped areas around the lake.
Habitat comes next
The fact that Lake Fork continues producing consistent trophies amazes even Norman. He said that typically new reservoirs on average have about 15 years of optimum fish production before they begin declining. Contributing factors include the siltation of the feeder creeks that provide the nutrients for the food chain. So does habitat loss like decaying trees and plants.
“Lake Fork is not what it was in the 1990s, but it has held on longer than that 15-year average,” said Norman. “I feel like the reason is the fertility of the watershed, which is driving the health of the lake.”
With the watershed still pumping food into the system that leaves the need for sustaining the habitat. It is declining and the partners are doing something about it. The LFSA cooperative project is just one example. So is a TPWD experiment underway on SRA property to create artificial wetlands. The idea is using the wetlands model to infuse the lake with seeds that germinate into beneficial native plants.
Sharelunker discoveries
Norman said that TPWD is just now beginning to realize the benefits envisioned long ago about ShareLunker. Genetic maps are showing more offspring that are direct descendants from ShareLunker entries, and many of those have not surprisingly come from Lake Fork.
“You cannot discredit the proven inherited genetic ability of those ShareLunker parents and their offspring,” he explained. “We are just now starting to map it all and see what can be in the future.”
What can be in the future could sustain Lake Fork’s trophy potential even longer than could be expected. Even more impressive is how genetically superior Lake Fork ShareLunker offspring have jumpstarted fisheries across the entire state of Texas, and will continue doing far into the future.